Prize
by The Hamartia of it All
Summary: Four extraordinary teenagers are recruited for a secret military mission assigned by the government. One a half-robot, one a shapeshifter, one a sorceress, and another a sidekick gone solo. Their mission? Rescue a Tamaranean girl from the Citadel. Should be easy, if she wanted to be saved. - A different take on how the Teen Titans met. Slight AU.
1. Prologue

_A/N:_

_I was going to save this until I finished my season six project, but since I'm so busy and I've been horrible at updating, I decided to start this early for my very patient followers. Here is my big thank you to you guys!_

_I've had this idea for a while now, and it's a slight AU, or a different take on how the Titans met._

_Anyway, here you go!_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own the Teen Titans._

* * *

_Prize_

It was all too easy.

They thought they could get rid of him. They thought they could keep him silent. They thought he was over it.

Obviously, they were very wrong.

It was supposed to be a simple mission, if they would have allowed it. Just a search and rescue and a demonstration his strength and capability, nothing more.

They would — no… they _will_ regret insulting him. They will regret letting him go. He will show them just what he's capable of.

He will make them pay. He was not one to be mistreated, not after all he'd worked for and all he'd sacrificed.

There must be something he could use in the Justice League database…

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Chapter one will be up really really soon. I want to keep this as vague as possible for the sake of suspense._


	2. Chapter 1 - Light

_A/N:_

_I think this is the quickest I've ever updated._

_Summary: Four extraordinary teenagers are recruited for a secret military mission assigned by the government. One a half-robot, one a shapeshifter, one a sorceress, and another a sidekick gone solo. Their mission? Rescue a Tamaranean girl from the Citadel. Should be easy, if she wanted to be saved. Aliens…_

* * *

_Chapter 1 - Light_

Jump City was a whole lot different from Gotham City. For one thing, it overlooked the Pacific Ocean and smelled of both pollution and saltwater. For another, crime didn't seem to be that frequent.

When Robin left his former partner and offered his services in Jump, he wasn't surprised to be greeted with laughter and snide remarks. "Hey, where's the Bats?" or "I see you've finally put some pants on!" or "What's the matter? Gotham too scary for you?" were just a few of the recurring phrases. And even his former partner taunted him with his silence.

Their split was covered by the media for days, and Batman seemed unaffected by his partner's hasty departure, with the press going on and on about how he was able to capture Poison Ivy without the help of his Boy Wonder sidekick.

Boy Wonder. He was sick of that title. Sick of being treated like a kid. Sick of being in Batman's shadow. If leaving everything he knew was what it took to be recognized as a hero — as a _man_ — then so be it.

He'll show them.

Of course, it would help greatly if he found a crime to stop. Yet it was his third night in the city on solo patrol and all he'd been stopping so far were sexual harassments and pickpockets. Batman was surely laughing at him back in Gotham City.

Robin scaled the tops of every building in the busiest part of the city that night, yet still found no trouble. Did he pick the wrong city?

As if hearing his prayers, sirens blared in the distance, and soon after, two police cars zoomed down the streets, heading in his direction. A man dressed in a grey sweatshirt and a grey toque ducked into an alley, a bulging sack thrown over his shoulder. Typical.

"Finally!" he muttered to himself as he leapt over to the next building with acrobatic gracefulness. This was it! This was his chance to show what he was made of!

Robin watched as the bank robber — or jewel thief, who knew what was in that bag? — sifted through the sack of stolen goods sauntered through the alley, satisfied with his theft.

Time to exercise the bat-stealth. Or was it bird-stealth now that he was solo? Robin crept over the alley, casting a shadow over the man and causing him to gasp in fright. The man took out his crowbar, but before he could issue a threat, Robin threw a birdarang at him and knocked the crowbar out of his hand.

"Huh…?"

Robin bit back a smirk as he sifted through old one-liners. There would be none of that tonight.

"Look, man, I don't want any trouble…"

In an instant, a dozen bats flew out at the bank robber — after Robin disturbed the nest — and screeched in his ears as they left the alley. The former Boy Wonder stepped out of the shadows, fighting every instinct of his to crack a cheesy joke.

"You should have thought of that before you committed the crime," he said, his voice low and intimidating.

In an instant, he leapt up and attacked the bank robber with a flying kick, engaging him in combat. The robber clumsily threw punches at Robin, who easily ducked them, and in seconds, the robber was thrown against the wall. He fell onto his bottom and blinked in surprise. "Hey, this isn't your town! Aren't you supposed to be with —"

"Just moved here, and from now on, I work alone." Clearly, this guy hadn't been keeping up with the news.

A sonic boom caught his attention, and Robin looked up to see what looked like a green shooting star flash across the sky, a little too close to the city skyline for comfort. His eyes followed the streak until it dipped below a building and flashed even brighter, and the sound of breaking glass and something heavy hitting the ground echoed.

Hm. Enemy missile? Failed science experiment? Whatever it was, for some reason, he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Maybe this would lead to an investigation that would earn him a hero's respect.

But there was still a petty criminal to deal with.

Quickly tying him up and hanging him upside down in the style of his mentor, Robin alerted the authorities of the bank robber's capture before he ran off in the direction of the green light.

As he got closer to the area, something tugged at his gut. This was no ordinary mission, that was obvious. Still, there was a pestering sensation in his stomach and excitement flowed through his veins.

A crowd had already gathered around the crater where a convenience store stood only moments ago, green smoke flowing out the windows.

"What the heck was that, and why is it messin' up my neighbourhood?" a hooded teen cried out. "Somebody call the fire department!"

"Wowzers! It's Robin!" a teen wearing a strange mask and a purple and black uniform shouted. All heads turned in his direction, and several teens pulled out their phones to record him. Of course. All these phones and no one was putting them to good use. "Are you gonna do something, sir?"

Without answering him, Robin leapt into the crater and cautiously walked towards the singed convenience store, praying that nobody was inside when the object collided with the store. Robin coughed as he peeked inside a broken window and vaguely spotted a form crouched in the middle of knocked-over shelves.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" he called out. Smoke filled his eyes and he rubbed his mask to clear his vision. Where was the fire department? Didn't anyone call 911?

Suddenly, the form moved tentatively, seemingly regaining consciousness. Robin sighed in relief. "Hey, are you okay? Don't worry, I'll help you —"

Two green lights — the same shade as the streak of light he'd seen in the sky — appeared, and before he could even blink, the form leapt up and_ flew_ to the window where he stood, causing him to stumble backwards in shock. When he came to his senses, Robin's breath caught in his throat.

Before him stood — er, _floated —_ a girl with orange skin and ruby-red hair, wearing a metallic bodysuit and a headpiece on her forehead. Her glowing green eyes stared into his mask frightfully as she opened her mouth to speak.

_"Zlog vor'ni mor'mat! Zlog vor! Und gokt shak zu'roh!"_ she pleaded in a language Robin couldn't understand, shoving a large metal object into his face. They must be cuffs of some sort, he thought. That could only mean —

A camera flash startled the alien girl and she bared her teeth, mistakenly thinking it was a threat. She growled in the direction of the camera, and, thinking on his feet, Robin grabbed her before she could attack the teen.

"Hey, look! I don't wanna hurt you, but —"

_"Argh!" _she screamed, slamming her cuffs into the ground and knocking Robin onto his feet.

Bring it on, he thought as he stood in a defensive martial arts stance. "Who are you?"

The alien girl merely ignored him and continued to slam her cuffs into the ground, shaking everything in a mile-radius and knocking the bystanders off their feet. Hm. She was stronger than she looked.

As Robin took out a birdarang to attack her, he suddenly noticed that the girl was favouring a leg. The metal on one of her legs was torn, and red-orange blood seeped through. "Hey, you're hurt…" he said, before mentally slapping himself. She couldn't understand him! "Hey!" he called out to her, waving his arms. When she turned towards him angrily, he took a bandage out of his utility belt. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help." He pointed at the wound on her leg and stepped closer.

Something in her glowing gaze softened, and she sank to the ground in front of him. Robin knelt down to examine her wound and found that it was deep and needed stitches. He took out a needle, thread, and more gauze. "This is going to hurt, but I'm not trying to." To his surprise, when he stitched up the alien girl's wound, she didn't react at all. It was only when he finished patching up her leg did her curious expression change to one of desperation.

"There," he said as he tied up the bandage. "Now maybe we can — oomph!" His words were immediately cut off by a desperate and hasty kiss.

Wait a minute. Was she kissing him?! The alien girl was kissing him! Why was she kissing him… and why was he enjoying it?!

Just as quickly as it had begun, the alien girl shoved him away and held up her cuffs. "Please —"

Something heavy landed on the ground beside them, and Robin looked up to find himself staring into the face of a gigantic lizard. Two more appeared behind the girl and gagged her, muffling her scared screams.

"I believe the word on your planet is thanks, human," said the lizard beside him. "You've singlehandedly captured and defeated our most dangerous alien prisoner. I believe a reward is in order."

The alien girl made a strangled and confused noise upon hearing those words, and she pleaded to Robin with her eyes. "Please help me!" was what she seemed to be saying to him. But she was a criminal! It would be against all of his morals if he helped her escape from these alien policemen.

A heavy bag of gold was dropped in his hands, along with a heavy burden of guilt on his shoulders. Something wasn't right.

"Thank you for your services, strangely dressed human. You need not be concerned with our presence in your city, for we will be leaving immediately," the lizard stated. He nodded to the other lizards and soared into the sky, where a large alien spacecraft loomed over the city. As the lizards took their alien prisoner away, she continued to scream through her gag, her eyes never leaving Robin's until she was aboard the spacecraft.

Robin swallowed the lump in his throat. Did he just make a huge mistake?

"Coolio!" a voice chirped beside him. The green masked teen stared up at him in awe. "You captured a dangerous alien and got a bunch of gold in return!" Next to him, the hooded teen grumbled angrily and stomped off, muttering about how he'd gotten there first and would have helped if he could. In the corner of his eye, a cloaked form skittered to the shadows.

"Yeah. Cool." The gold suddenly seemed like blood money. "I think I'll just donate this to charity or something. See you."

Robin threw the bag of gold over his shoulders and trudged in the direction of the nearest children's shelter, the image of the alien girl's distressed face never leaving his mind. Why did he feel so guilty about handing over a prisoner?

His ears picked up soft footsteps behind him, and he whirled around. "Who's there?"

A man in a long overcoat and an eyepatch stared back at him a few feet away. "Only a humble man with a good cause," he said with a voice as chilly as steel. He glanced at the bag of gold in Robin's hand and smirked. "Don't worry, boy. I'm not after your bounty."

"Then what do you want?"

The man chuckled. "You're Robin, aren't you?"

"Gee, what gave me away? The traffic light costume? The R on my chest? Do you want an autograph or something?"

"No, child. I have a proposition for you, one that I think might be of great interest to you."

Robin turned away. "Not interested."

"Not even if it granted you hero status?"

He stopped. Hero status? As in being recognized as a real, capable hero and not a sidekick? This man seemed to know exactly what he wanted. Then again, most of the country did. Robin took a deep breath.

"I'm listening."

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_1) For non-Canadians, a toque is a winter hat. I thought toque sounded better_

_2) Obviously I took the bank robber from the episode Go! which I also do not own_

_3) If you spot any errors, apologies, I was too lazy to proofread._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and I'm sorry that I've been taking so long on season six! I'll update it as soon as possible, just remember that I'm a very busy person._

_Read and review kindly please!_


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